The Canton Charge, G League affiliate of the Cavaliers, will be moving to Cleveland for next season, reports Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com. The Charge have played in Canton for nine seasons, but as their 10-year contract with the Canton Memorial Civic Center expires, Cavaliers ownership wanted to bring the team back to Cleveland.
“When we acquired the franchise and relocated it here to Northeast Ohio, our goal was to create the best operation and experience in the G League, both on the court and off,” said Cavaliers’ CEO Len Komoroski. “We’ve had success working towards both those goals and that remains our commitment and focus.”
The team will be called simply “The Charge” during the transition, but the team hopes to officially rebrand as “The Cleveland Charge” by the start of the 2021/22 season, which is set to tip off in November. The Charge will now be based out of Cleveland State University’s Wolstein Center. The Cavs are hoping this will lead to a long-term partnership between the G League team and the Wolstein Center.
“We’re thrilled to welcome the Charge to the Wolstein Center and we look forward to collaborating with Rock Entertainment Group on what’s next,” said CSU President Harlan Sands.
As Fedor notes, this move by the Cavaliers is indicative of a larger league-wide trend of teams trying to keep their G League affiliates closer to home. The Charge are expected to use the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse, the Cavaliers’ home court, as well as Cleveland Clinic Courts, the team’s player training and development facility.
As the relationships between professional teams and G-League teams become more dynamic, this will allow teams to optimize their player development goals, synchronize philosophies, and better monitor progress.
“As we look to the future, we’re very pleased to now be able to continue the growth of the Charge at the Wolstein Center,” said Charge general manager Brendon Yu. “The proximity to Cleveland Clinic Courts and Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse creates an enhanced synergy between the two teams and will foster even greater personnel development that will be very impactful for us.”
The team reiterated its commitment to remaining engaged in its relationship with the community of Canton, especially through youth programs, including the Junior Cavs Camp.
This is it. This is the move that will change the course of the Cavs franchise for decades to come.
Because why would the Cavs want another city to feel an association with them? Just so short-sighted.
Living only about 25-30 minutes from Canton, it was nice and easy to go see a Charge game. I love minor league baseball and G-League games for how easily accessible and simple they are, and it was always nice to show up and just see a game with a good view and no lines.
It’s about an hour and a half drive to Cleveland, which is still manageable but definitely more of an inconvenience. That’s probably not to mention increases in parking, etc. So it’s a move that’s best for the Cavs and player development, but still kind of disappointing.
So basically the city of Cleveland will have two G league teams.
The Canton venue is poorly optimized for basketball, originally being configured to hold circuses & shows. It’s a nice place but infuriating for HS BB playoffs. I’m as done there as the Cavs— they never rearranged it.
The Cle.St. BB facility like many in Ohio is way too big, potentially cavernous, but certainly big and close enough.